


Identity

by MdeCarabas



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-15
Updated: 2014-10-15
Packaged: 2018-02-21 05:37:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2456735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MdeCarabas/pseuds/MdeCarabas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vanessa Kimball is many things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Identity

 

1.

Vanessa Kimball is not the type to fool around.

Which isn't to say that she doesn't enjoy herself sometimes, but rather that the venues available to so many of her soldiers are by want of her position completely unavailable to her. As leader she must be unassailable, her decisions unquestioned and always respected-- something that will surely be impossible with rumors of favoritism flying around camp. If that means that she will only ever sleep alone, then Kimball has always been perfectly fine with that outcome.

Which is what makes this whole thing so unusual.

"Going so soon?" Agent Carolina drawls. She stretches languidly, full breasts swaying gently as her back arches against the sheets. Her lips curve up when she sees Kimball watching. "I'm surprised you can move. Even for me, that was quite the workout."

It's been a long time since anyone has teased Kimball this way. Even longer than the war's been going on, if she's honest. Even back then she was always choosy. "I have a meeting with General Doyle at eight," she says quietly, "And I need to go over some reports beforehand. I'm sorry, but I can't stay any longer."

"Hmm," Agent Carolina says, "Maybe afterwards you should meet me in the training room so that you and I can have a different type of workout."

A personal training session with one of Project Freelancer's greatest soldiers. With one of the heroes who not only took down the remains of that organization, but aided Chorus at great risk to their own lives. A risk that wasn't without injury.

"I would be honored," Vanessa says.

  
2.

Vanessa Kimball is a professional.

While others may have slacked off on their responsibilities over the years, Kimball has never found it hard to stay focused on what was necessary. Her father called it her greatest trait. Her schoolmates told her it made her boring.

But regardless of which of them were right in the end, it was that skill that aided her most once she became leader of the New Republic of Chorus. It was that skill that kept her going when she faltered. It was that skill that became her greatest asset against the burdens of leadership. And it's still the skill she relies on most.

So why are her fingers trailing up Agent Carolina's thighs in the middle of the gym?

"Stay focused," Agent Carolina warns her.

"I never have trouble staying focused," Kimball says truthfully.

"Is that why your hands are on my ass?"

Kimball blinks.

Agent Carolina gives her a wry smile. "You didn't even realize, did you?"

No, she didn't, which is disconcerting in a number of ways. She's not supposed to draw attention to herself this way. She's allowed to want, but not to touch, and even Agent Carolina's status as a neutral third party wouldn't save Kimball if someone saw.

Kimball drops her hands.

"I didn't say stop," Agent Carolina tells her, flashing a wicked grin her way as she puts Kimball's hands right back where they were. She shifts on Kimball's lap, ducking down to slide her tongue across Vanessa's lips, breasts pressing together when they kiss.

Vanessa is breathless when they finally part, her mind struggling to keep track of the conversation. "I'm almost certain that you did," she manages when the fog has disappeared from her brain.

"No," Agent Carolina says, "I just told you to focus."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

Carolina smirks. “That all depends on what you’re focusing on.”

  
3.

Vanessa Kimball is not a soldier.

Despite the role that fate has come to give her, she is no more of a fighter than so many of her barely tried troops. She has become a mimicry of one, but is not one; the mask does not settle on her face easily, not the mantle of leadership she wears on her shoulder. The guise of the diplomat is the one she would prefer, much like her father and mother before her, both of whom struggled for so very long to prevent the very outcome that Chorus inevitably found itself in.

She is not a soldier, but that doesn't stop her from putting a bullet in Felix's arm for threatening her people.

"Stand down, Felix," she orders, ignoring the way he turns to stare at her in shock, "If you surrender now, you'll face a fair trial from the people of The United Federation of Chorus. If you don't, you'll face an execution by firing squad."

"E-Excuse me?" Felix says, "Am I seriously hearing this right now?" He laughs at her derisively, a sound  that’s loud and terrible in its familiarity. A sound that is rough with bitterness. She has heard him laugh like this so many times before. She has ignored the coldness, justified the callousness, ignored every single one of her suspicions because he knew what to do on the battlefield.

She wonders how many people died because she trusted that laugh.

Despite his wound, Felix prowls closer, light shield up and ready. He won't be dismissing her capabilities a second time, that much is obvious. "You have nowhere to go, Felix," she says steadily, magnum never straying from his path. "My men have undoubtedly heard my gun go off. They'll be here any moment. Your assassination failed."

"Pffft," Felix says. He laughs harder, head thrown back in his amusement, one arm curled around his stomach to brace it. "Your men? You mean those pathetic morons who came _whining_ and _crying_ to me day after day, pleading with me to teach them how to shoot?"

Abruptly, the laughter departs, leaving only a bitter note of disgust in his voice. "They're not going to save anyone," he tells her, "They can't even save themselves." And without another word, Felix darts forward and grabs her by the neck, slamming her into a wall so hard she sees stars.

Vanessa Kimball is not a soldier, but that doesn't stop her from getting shot.

  
4.

Vanessa Kimball is alive.

It’s a fact that surprises her on a regular basis. She knows she shouldn’t be alive. She should be dead like so many others before her. She should be a footnote in Chorus' history, a factoid nestled between the pages of a war story that should not exist. She should have died in a battle from a bullet to her head or in her bedroom with Felix’s knife in her chest.

That she took a bullet is no surprise, only that it did not find its way into her chest earlier.

Agent Carolina is by her side when she awakes in the infirmary. “There was a man,” she says tiredly, “In Project Freelancer. He was strong. Always trying to do the right thing. You’re nothing alike, but sometimes you remind me of him. And he got hurt.”

Kimball doesn’t have to ask what happened to him.

“Kimball-- _Vanessa_ ,” Carolina says. She inhales sharply, closing her eyes in a recognizable attempt to get herself under control again. “I don’t want you to end up like him.”

Vanessa Kimball is alive, but for a moment her heart stops beating.

 

5.

Vanessa Kimball is many things. She is a woman. She is strong. She is a leader to her people. She is exhausted and weary and made serious by the ravages of time and responsibility. She takes care with people. She has faith in people. She makes people want to try again.

And eventually, she will be loved.


End file.
